May 27 was a huge day at the Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative pantry garden. Hannah White, from The Seed Farm, along with her summer intern, Debbie McDonald, came by around 10 a.m. to bring seedlings and other supplies for our 2025 garden.

Before their arrival, Brandon Hibbler, from Whitehall Township Parks and Recreation, stopped by to let me know he will be scheduling our shed gutter and downspout installation for our water catch system. A used, food-grade tote was donated and rinsed, and it is currently stored in the pantry van until we can place it in the garden. We expect to have the entire system set up during the first week of June.

Sue Butchinski and I were hilling dirt onto our potato plants, and Tom Noctor was finishing up the last of the rototilling when Hannah and Debbie arrived. While Debbie unloaded the truck, Hannah reviewed the planting scheme with us. She planned out five large beds for us but quickly identified that, based on the way Tom rototilled, we will instead have two huge beds and the large potato bed.

The seedlings Hannah and Debbie brought included two varieties of eggplant, three varieties of red slicing tomatoes, orange tomatoes, tomatillos, cayenne peppers, jalapeno peppers, sweet peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, basil, thyme, rosemary, chives, two varieties of sunflowers, mini zinnias, calendula and marigolds. They also brought a giant bag of fertilizer for us to add to the holes before planting the seedlings.

They helped Sue and I finish hilling the potatoes. We watered all our new seedlings and discussed how to plant. Hannah committed to redoing the planting diagram, based on the new beds and emailing them during the afternoon. Because it was after noon, we all wrapped up and left for the afternoon.

The new diagram showed our one bed is now 85 feet by 12 feet and the other is 85 feet by 15 feet. The bed closer to the Ironton Rail Trail was to have eggplants, zucchini, yellow squash, herbs and flowers, with the end closest to the creek reserved for corn. The bed closer to the shed was to have tomatoes, tomatillos, hot and sweet peppers, herbs and flowers, with the end closest to creek reserved for winter squash.

As instructed by Hannah, I ran the tape measure between the beds and then marked out 5-foot sections in which to plant, according to the new diagram.

Sue, Sylvia Lee and I were the work crew for the night, and we quickly discovered we had more plants for the 5-foot sections than the diagram indicated. Despite this, we made it work!

I hoed holes, based on the suggested spacing. Sue poured fertilizer into each hole, and Sylvia planted the seedlings in the holes. Sue and I also removed the flowers from the peppers and tomatillos before those were planted. Sylvia planted many of the sunflowers, and Sue planted all the herbs and marigolds. I planted zinnias, calendula and a few sunflowers, then hauled a load of weeds and rocks to the tree line before we packed up for the night.

We worked nonstop for more than two hours, and it was getting dark. However, we were successful in getting everything into the ground! Fortunately, because rain was forecast overnight and the next day, we felt we didn’t need to stay and water in the dark. It rained May 28, so our thinking was correct.

A huge thank you goes to Tom, Sue and Sylvia, as well as to Jenn Dietz, John Halko and Fran Worman, who could not attend May 27, for their dedication and hard work to provide fresh vegetables and herbs for our pantry guests.

Readers, if you want to help us at the garden 6:15 p.m. Tuesdays, call me at 610-379-6823.

I hope your flower and vegetable gardens are flourishing. Have a great June!

Editor’s note: This column was written by Gwen Herzog, pantry garden chair.